Frozen water and troughs - Help required

cphillipsball

cphillipsball

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Has anyone got any tips on dealing with the water situation for the buckets and troughs in the field. Used to use the tennis ball trick but the water freezes too thick to help. And is a nightmare to get through the ice and may occasions the buckets have shattered.
 
The baths in my field were solid so I smashed as much as I could up and tipped 5 barrels of hot water into it, it melted the ice enough for the horses to drink. I then went back home and filled another 5 barrels of hot water out of the bath taps at home and poured them into the field bath. Only then was the ice melted top and bottom of the field bath, I shall need to refill with hot water twice a day.
I tried the balls in bath trick but it only worked when it was above -3, and since last night was down to -10 the balls just freeze into the water. Even the stable bucket were so frozen I had to just knock them out like a sand castle and refill with water. There is a upside to this cold snap "no mud"
 
The problem I'm having is that every time I break the ice, and remove it (using a sieve!) the level drops by about 3inches, as the refilling mechanism is frozen solid. I am currently traipsing back and forth with kettles and Thermos trying to defrost! However, if the underground pipe supply is also frozen, I'm stuffed - it will be barrels carried, not kettles!
 
I just smash the ice up then refill if needed. I dont take the ice out and cant take hot water up the stables. They usually break the ice by the time I'm there anyway!
 
cphillipsball said:
Has anyone got any tips on dealing with the water situation for the buckets and troughs in the field. Used to use the tennis ball trick but the water freezes too thick to help. And is a nightmare to get through the ice and may occasions the buckets have shattered.
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I live in the land of frozen troughs. If you don't have an electric heater, pretty much the only way to keep them open in thick ice is to chop ice. A hand axe or claw of a hammer will work for this. I don't know what you have available for farm troughs, but the thick rubber ones are what I use. Rubbermaid is the brand, not sure if you have that. Plastic will shatter for sure.

If its a black trough and you can keep it where it might get some sun during the day, that will help too. Last Thursday is was -29C here and I had two 1500watt heaters going in a 100 gallon trough and it STILL froze with 4 inches of ice! Chop, chop, chop... Good luck, winter sucks.
 
For auto-fill troughs
1. Use an electric fencing post in a pinch (but this will take a while to do if the ice is thick)
2. hand axe or metal spade


I also have 4 big water carriers that I take home and fill up in the bath tub, I then use them to fill up tub trugs for when the horses are in at night, or I put a tub trug out in the field and fill it up. I fill it with warmish temperature water so it doesn't freeze. They're heavy but it is good for ensuring a constant supply of water when everything is frozen and not likely to un-freeze.
 
Had to get the OH to help break the ice this morning it was that thick!! We used a metal bar to break it then a seive to remove the ice. I have just been up the field to break it again so its easier in the morning and I have put an old rug over it in the hope it will help me in the morning!!
 
Some use to swear by magnets...

Can you get some straw to insulate the sides? It works but is messy.
 
When we had this freezing weather back in January, some people on here were lighting fires under their water troughs to defrost them. I seem to recall those little disposable barbecue thingies were very good for this. I never tried it myself, but it does make sense, so long as you don't burn the plastic water pipe...
 
I used two kettles of boiling water this am to no avail, the ice was just too thick. Ended up putting out bucket of water which of course he didn't drink!
 
I lit a fire under our metal trough this morning :D

It didn't melt the whole trough (only a little fire) but made it possible to break to top with a spade :)
 
Pop a wooden fence post (round 3" ones are great) into the tank after you have cleared the ice - then you 'can' use this to break the ice the next morning - only works if its down to -8 or so tho.
Metal spade also helps.
We lob all the broken ice into a tank the other side of the fence.

Otherwise is good old carting of water from home for those of us who dont live on site .....:(
 
Did you know ( says Gala in a sort of girly Michael Caine voice) that hot water freezes faster than cold water? It's called the Mpemba effect.

Not many people know that...
 
Don't use hot/ warm water! It freezes way faster then cold water.

Tbh, if your horse was really really desperate for a drink they would find a way of breaking the ice, they are a lot smarter then we give credit for!

As for breaking the ice we use a metal baseball bat :)
 
Honey08 said:
The water in our house froze today - nevermind the field! Its just not right for November!!
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Central heating - on 24/7 cures that.
(a credit card is the solution to what is produced on the bill at the end of the winter :o )

Kokopelli said:
Don't use hot/ warm water! It freezes way faster then cold water.
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Is the right answer.

Warm (slightly warm) water for feeds only :)
 
I did do an experiment on this very subject re hot water verses cold water and which freezes first, I used identical bucket and filled one up with hot water (not boiling) and one with cold water. The cold water froze first , also when I say I put hot water into the baths it is being tipped in an almost solid ice bath, so the hot water melts the ice and the hot water will be cold within moments anyway because the ice in the bath cools it down rapidly.
It was the only choice I had today as the baths were frozen all the way down, so smashing the ice would of just made ice cubes, will be glad when the pipes defrost.
 
i have 90 litres sat in my kitchen in carriers/5l water bottles ready to take to the yard in the morning! even if i defrost the taps... the hoses are all frozen solid so i am thinking its easier to take water down to put in the field rather than mess with the hose...

thanksfully...... my water feeders in my block have so far not froze... everything else on the yard/other blocks has.
 
well i can't have a bath tonight because the drain is frozen and it will not drain and we can't thaw it!! at least at work there is a shower but i am missing my sunday soak, a book and a bottle

ok i know that was off topic but i had to sulk and share :)
 
When you bring the horses in at night, cover the trough with a board to keep the wind off. Also if you have a small trough you can lag it with an immersion heater jacket only £4 in Wickes. Try to raise the trough off the ground then you can insulate underneath. Use something that wont absorb water. So if using straw put it in a plastic feed sack. Tie the sacks to the trough so they wont blow around the field spooking the horses. Also in Wickes they sell tap jackets for about £8 and pipe laggging for £1.25 per metre. Otherwise we lagg our pipes with paper feed sacks, just wrap them around the pipes and tie on with baler twine. Fold a paper feed sack back on itself and sit your water bucket in this, makes a little jacket for the bucket, I sit my sugarbeet bucket in this to stop it freezing. If you are struggling with water carriers, you can get the roller type in any caravan sales shops. Keep warm!! :0)
 
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